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RE: Let's Talk About What We Aren't Supposed To Talk About... Religion!
I don't have any problems articulating my thoughts. But you seem to have a problem articulating yours. I meant everything I said and stand by it. Atheism is not a religion. No one has ever killed anyone in the name of atheism. Because there were people who killed for other reasons who happened to also be atheist means nothing. That's like saying Hitler and Stalin both had mustaches, therefore they killed in the name of men who have mustaches. Ridiculous.
Ok, so to be fair, no one has ever straight up killed in the name of atheism. You win. What about "progress and the state?" At https://www.marxists.org we read this quote "As you probably know, we are atheists and materialists." I'm still not sure what your point is. People will find reasons to fight whether it be gods, gold, or girls. All the above is usually the correct answer, and only religion gives any sort of definitive reasons why. Killing each other for any reason besides self defense is contrary to natural selection. And as you said, no one kills in the name of atheism specifically, yet atheist ideologies are responsible for more deaths in the twentieth century alone than all others combined. Only Islam beats atheists for sheer numbers, but the time period is more than 1000% and includes all Muslims from inception to present time. Compare this to the 3, yes THREE individual atheists I mentioned.
To say this means nothing is not reasonable. By your logic I could say that lives taken in the name of Jesus means nothing since it goes against the very essence of Christianity (across the spectrum). Better yet, I could say that no one kills in the name of "religion," and it would be as true as what you're trying to say about atheism. The good news is you inspired your own post. https://steemit.com/christian/@ryeis1/offensive-religious-memes-that-may-be-true
No, there is a difference. Religions are belief systems, atheism is not. It's the opposite, it's non-belief. By adding an "A" to anything it means not. Just as asymmetrical means "not round" Atheism means "not religious." There is no belief system, so therefore you cannot do anything in the name of it. It simply means non-theist. You can have any other beliefs that you like. You could be a Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, black, white, male, female and still be an atheist. Atheism does not tie you to any specific set of principles or viewpoints other than you do not accept theism, that's all that it means.
As I said in the beginning, atheism is not a belief system; it’s a rejection of theism … nothing more. If you disagree with atheism, then you are not an atheist period. What you are claiming is that nudity is a clothing style, it's not, it's no clothing.
Now let’s contrast that with theism, which is a belief system. You can be a theist and disagree on many points about theism itself and what it means to be a theist. A Catholic and a Baptist, for example, are both theists but disagree on exactly what that means. This is why there are so many different sects of the same religion.
With atheism, this is not a problem as all atheists agree they reject theism. This makes our position one that is not only more definable but agreeable as well. Just trying to define theism and what it means is hard enough, finding two theists that agree on what it actually means is next to impossible, even within the exact same sect.
So, to say someone killed in the name of Atheism would be like saying someone killed in the name of men with beards (if the people who killed all happened to have beards.) Because people were murderers, but they happened to be Atheists too does not mean they killed in the name of Atheism.
But, we know for a fact many have been killed in the name of religion. Look at the Crusades, the Inquisition or even Muslims when the scream "Allahu Akbar" (Allah is the greatest) as they chop someones head off for not being Muslim. There is a big difference. If you can find where someone has shouted (I do this in the name of no god) before chopping someone's head off, I will count that as someone killing in the name of Atheism, until then, I hold my position.
There's no argument then. You say people only kill in the name of belief systems. I say I agree. All I've said is that we will find a reason to fight whether it be gods, gold, or girls. That's not an opinion. History is proof of this time and time again. I will say hiding behind non belief does not keep a person blameless. How does the song go? "If you choose not to decide you still have made a choice."
I'll throw one out and see what you think. I'm going to say with nothing factual to back it up, that atheists have killed in the name of God when it suited their interests in the past as well as today. As a matter of fact, no faithful Christian would kill in God's name unless it was the final option and would preserve more life than it would destroy.
I'm going to throw another one out there that I can back up. The crusades were not about religion. They were about power and possession. The crusades led by the knights anointed by the pope were a response to a century or more of Muslim aggression that split the know world in two. I don't believe for one second that the aggressors did it for the glory of Allah. Just like every other conquest it was about the spoils in the end. The crusades that were sanctioned by the Church were the final option after every other avenue have failed. Some men behaved badly as men will in times of uncertainty and fear.
The inquisitions are another often quoted, rarely understood period in Catholic history. They were meant to stop heretical teaching, that leads to division, that leads to fighting, that leads to killing. Notice I never said they were meant to convert anyone or force Church beliefs onto anyone. Only to stop the teaching of anti-Christian doctrines diguised as actual Church doctrine. The Church's mission is to preserve doctrinal unity and protect the dignity of human life from conception to natural death. It has succeeded in it's mission against all odds at 100% success. Were the tactics questionable? Sometimes yes. Yet in the context of the times, the worst of interrogation methods used by the Church were like a gentle tickle compared to what governments would do if you were caught teaching ideals that contradicted the king!
Yeah. People will always find a way to be horrible. The Church is wrongly accused of contributing substantially to this. Actual historical facts show the polar opposite. Believe or not. At least have a proper understanding before jumping to conclusions. Not you personally, but anybody tempted to jump on the band wagon when the headlines totally affirm everything you believe and hold true. Check your sources before proclaiming the clear truth provided around the clock by your friends at www.yournewsnow.gov.
I like how religious people can always find excuses or blame others for their acts lol. I do not, nor will I ever agree with your assessment. No, atheists have not killed more people, in fact they have killed no one in the name of atheism. Although atheists have killed people before, it was never due to atheism. Yes, people will always find a way to do horrible things to each other, on that we agree. But as far as who is responsible for more deaths due to theirs "ism" theists have that one by a long way, it's not even close. In fact, their deity, has the all time kill record and still the reigning champ.
Well this convinces me. Who can deny this indisputable truth :)